{"id":15921,"date":"2025-11-21T22:20:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T22:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/cdc-website-is-changed-to-raise-suspicions-of-a-vaccines-autism-link\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T22:20:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T22:20:43","slug":"cdc-website-is-changed-to-raise-suspicions-of-a-vaccines-autism-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/cdc-website-is-changed-to-raise-suspicions-of-a-vaccines-autism-link\/","title":{"rendered":"CDC website is changed to raise suspicions of a vaccines-autism link"},"content":{"rendered":"<div xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<div>\n<p>                                <bsp-timestamp data-timestamp=\"1763658143000\" data-recent-thresholdinhours=\"1\">                    <template data-date-tpl>Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year]<\/template>                    <span data-date><\/span>                <\/bsp-timestamp>            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                                    <bsp-page-actions>                            <\/bsp-page-actions>                                                            <\/div>\n<div xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<p>NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has been changed to contradict the longtime scientific conclusion that vaccines do not cause autism, spurring outrage among a number of public health and autism experts.<\/p>\n<p>The CDC &ldquo;vaccine safety&rdquo; <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccine-safety\/about\/autism.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">webpage<\/a><\/span>  was updated Wednesday, saying &ldquo;the statement &lsquo;Vaccines do not cause autism&rsquo; is not an evidence-based claim.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>The change is the latest move by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to revisit &mdash; and foster uncertainty about &mdash; long-held scientific consensus about the safety of <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cdc-acip-flu-vaccine-thimerosal-c5696bbc19f345323153d5336cb5e798\">vaccines<\/a><\/span>  and <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/tylenol-cause-autism-trump-kennedy-0847ee76eedecbd5e9baa6888b567d66\">other<\/a><\/span>  pharmaceutical products.<\/p>\n<p>It was immediately decried by scientists and advocates who have long been focused on finding the causes of autism.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are appalled to find that the content on the CDC webpage &lsquo;Autism and Vaccines&rsquo; has been changed and distorted, and is now filled with anti-vaccine rhetoric and outright lies about vaccines and autism,&rdquo; the Autism Science Foundation said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Widespread scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link between vaccines and autism. &ldquo;The conclusion is clear and unambiguous,&rdquo; said Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We call on the CDC to stop wasting government resources to amplify false claims that sow doubt in one of the best tools we have to keep children healthy and thriving: routine immunizations,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>The CDC has, until now, echoed the absence of a link in promoting Food and Drug Administration-licensed vaccines.<\/p>\n<div data-align-center>                    <bsp-figure>    <\/p>\n<figure data-openoverlay>                        <a id=\"image-4c0000\"><\/a>                             <picture data-crop=\"imgEn-medium-nocrop\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\"><source media=\"(min-width: 600px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"767\" height=\"511\"><source media=\"(min-width: 600px)\" width=\"767\" height=\"511\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\"><source width=\"599\" height=\"399\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"This April 1, 2025 photo shows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. (AP Photo\/Ben Gray, file)\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/89ef2c1\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4000x2667+0+0\/resize\/599x399!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fa9%2F9f%2Ff9ee4d271221e743fc4eafc4a6ad%2F7c41c759493e4c4c846df39958018798\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<div><bsp-read-more data-more-button-text=\"Read More\" data-less-button-text=\"Read Less\" data-expand=\"ReadMore-expand\" data-limit=\"110\" data-main-class=\"ReadMore\"><figcaption>\n<p>This April 1, 2025 photo shows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. (AP Photo\/Ben Gray, file)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/bsp-read-more><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>        <template data-bsp-figure-overlay-template>                                <\/p>\n<div data-slidenumber=\"0\" data-slidescount=\"1\">                        <bsp-carousel-read-more data-show-less data-expand=\"ReadMore-expand\" data-main-class=\"ReadMore\" data-more-id data-less-id>                            <\/p>\n<p>This April 1, 2025 photo shows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. (AP Photo\/Ben Gray, file)<\/p>\n<p>                        <\/bsp-carousel-read-more>                    <\/div>\n<p>    <\/template>    <\/bsp-figure>                <\/div>\n<p>But anti-vaccines activists &mdash; including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who this year became secretary of Health and Human Services &mdash; have long claimed there is one.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s unclear if anyone at CDC was actually involved in the change, or whether it was done by Kennedy&rsquo;s HHS, which oversees the CDC. <\/p>\n<p>Many at CDC were surprised.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I spoke with several scientists at CDC yesterday and none were aware of this change in content,&rdquo; said Dr. Debra Houry, who was part of a group of CDC top officials <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cdc-monarez-fired-trump-kennedy-vaccines-science-17fd8a19064e39906bc0125fd81e3525\">who resigned<\/a><\/span>  from the agency in August. &ldquo;When scientists are cut out of scientific reviews, then inaccurate and ideologic information results.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The updated page does not cite any new research. It instead argues that past studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;HHS has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism, including investigations on plausible biologic mechanisms and potential causal links. Additionally, we are updating the CDC&rsquo;s website to reflect gold standard, evidence-based science,&rdquo; said HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon, in an email Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>A number of former CDC officials have said that what CDC posts about certain subjects &mdash; including vaccine safety &mdash; can no longer be trusted. <\/p>\n<p>Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who also resigned from the agency in August, told reporters Wednesday that Kennedy seems to be &ldquo;going from evidence-based decision making to decision-based evidence making.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/rfk-jr-kennedy-cassidy-vaccine-reelection-7ef3224629c5a299949b663e0f49e0d5\">U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy<\/a><\/span>a Louisiana Republican, earlier this year played a decisive role in approving Kennedy&rsquo;s nomination for HHS secretary. Cassidy <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cassidy-kennedy-trump-health-secretary-e826bc40fddf90829f6438681c5d9275\">initially voiced misgivings<\/a><\/span>  about Kennedy, but in February said Kennedy <span><a data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-cabinet-kennedy-rfk-health-secretary-vote-842455e48b1f9b79fb2312937dff29f6\">had pledged<\/a><\/span>  &mdash; among other things &mdash; not to remove language from the CDC website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.<\/p>\n<p>The new site continues to have a headline that says &ldquo;Vaccines do not cause autism,&rdquo; but HHS officials put an asterisk next to it. A note at the bottom of the page says the phrasing &ldquo;has not been removed due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that it would remain on the CDC website.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Cassidy&rsquo;s spokespersons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute&rsquo;s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cdc-autism-vaccines-7b1890f626dd5921fafd00fdd1e6425a\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has been changed to contradict the longtime scientific conclusion that vaccines do not cause autism, spurring outrage among a number of public health and autism experts. The CDC &ldquo;vaccine safety&rdquo; webpage was updated Wednesday, saying &ldquo;the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trump"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}